2 Commanders Killed In Kashmir

3 September 2005The Nation

Srinagar: Two top members of Hizbul Mujahideen were among five people killed in the latest bout of violence in Occupied Kashmir. The bloodshed came as Kashmiris geared up for talks with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Monday to discuss the future of the region. A police spokesman said Adil Pathan, one of the Hizb commanders, was shot dead in the southern Pulwama district Saturday during a pre-dawn clash with Indian soldiers and special counter-insurgency police. Pathan was believed to be involved in a June 13 car bombing in the same district that killed 14 people, including three security force officers, the police spokesman said. No group has claimed responsibility for that blast, which injured over 100 people. Another Hizb commander was shot dead during a similar clash in the southern district of Udhampur on Saturday, police said. Two Hindus and a Kashmiri were killed late Friday when unidentified gunmen sprayed them with bullets in the village of Sourbathi in southern Doda district, a police spokesman said. He said one of the slain Hindus was working with counter-insurgency police. Three Indian army soldiers were wounded in a landmine explosion near the town of Sopore, 50 kilometres north of Srinagar, on Saturday, police said.